Process jar closure.



c. HAMMER. PROCESS JAR CLOSURE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9. I917.

Patented Oct. 30, 1917.

v To all whom/at may whom I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. cnannns na es, or 'QUEENS, new "Yonx, AssIeNon, nY manor AND MESNE nssremrnnrs, rro AMERICAN mn'rar. car 00., or :enooxnnr, new You];

lrnocEss-jmn CLOSURE.

. g ates 1' Letters Iatent. t nt t, 30,1917,

- I Application aleammn 9,1917. seminalsasss. 1

, Be it known that I, CHARLES HAMMER, a citizen of the United States, residin ."at Queens, in the county of Queens and, tate of New York, have invented certain new and, useful Improvementsin Process J arl 01osures, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the form of jar closures intended to be sealed by' the vacuum process, which can be done by placing the sealed jar and closure in a chamber and ex-; hausing the air, or the contents can be boiled to producea steam or vapor, and the closure then applied; whereby the condensation of the vapor, with the closure under a slight pressure on the jar, will produce a partial vacuum; so that the. sealing is/eiiected in both instances solely] by the atmospheric pressure and without the employment of mechanical pressure by a chuck or'othermeans.

p The object of the present invention is to provide a closure for this purpose, especially adapted for cooperation with a form of jar having a shoulder on the outer wall below the top so that the pressure exerted by the atmosphere to force down the closure will produce a kind of double wedge action to tightly compress the washer or gasket between the top and side faces of the jar and a similarly arranged portlon of the closure.

In the accompanying drawing showing one embodiment of my invention Fi re 1 shows in section, the closure in scale position on a jar. Fig. 2 is a partial section enlarged of the closure before use; and Fig.

' 3 is a similar view of the closure as apportions 7 and 8, as shown in Fig. 2, and

which has an angular form in section. For

.the purpose of I conveniently retaining the gasket in pro er sealing position in the cap,

I'preferablyend the lower marginof the flange inwardly to form ajchannel adapted I to receive the lower edge of the gasket. As shown, the lower margin is first bent shghtly outward as at 10, and then. bent inwardly and upwardly as at. 11, to form a channel open on the inner face of the clo-.

sure. The gasket is preferably slightly compressed inthe'final bending of this channel portion'to securely hold the gasket in the proper position. But it will be observedthat the .free edge of the channel portion provided with a shoulder on the outer wall,

is outside of the inner wall of thegasket,

formed by a horizontal face 13, and an upright face 14 that, as shown, is slightly divergent downwardly; and these two faces meet at a comparatively sharp angle with only the extreme edge rounded ofi or curved. Above this wallthe jar has an extension or rim 15, located inwardly fromthe shoulder portion described, and which it will be observed will be entirely free from contact with the upper portion of the closure.

In the use of this form of cap, or cap and jar, after the jar is filled with the desired contents, the closure is applied by hand to rest lightly in proper position, and then the jar is subjected to the vacuum sealing process. To insure the retention of the closure on the jar during this process, a spring clamp 16 may be employed, of the usual or well-known form. This clamp will engage the closure at the middle portion only, while the inwardly bent hook end portions 17 and 18 will engage the jar at the bottom 19 of the shoulder extension, as shown in Fig. 1. In such process the contents of the jar are usually heated, to drive ofi any contained air, and to produce a kind of vapor at the top of the jar to assist in expelling the air.

When the jar and closure are placed in the vacuum chamber and the air is exhausted, the slight pressure on the closure will permit it to rise suflicient' to permit any contained air to be withdrawn, assisted by the steam or vapor below the closure. Then as soon as the atmospheric pressure is restored,

the closure will be very strongly forced down on the jar thereby. It will be understood from Fig. 3*that the comparatively sharp edge" of the shoulder will compress the gasket more at the bend thereof than at the adjacent portions, but the adjacent portions of the jar wall will cotiperate with the top and side portions of the rounded flange portion, whereby the gasket will assume a double wedge form, diverging both downwardly and inwardly from the edge of the shoulder. The upright portion of the wedge will serve to very tightly bind or look the closure on the jar, and effectually exclude the atmospheric air therefrom, that will be assisted by the compressed portion of the gasket on the top face of the shoulder. Thereby the gasket will be forced into any cavities or irregular contours of the jar wall and effect a hermetic sealing of the jar. It will be further observed that the channel portion of the closure also serves as a strengthening means to prevent undue bending of the closure, while such portion remains ofi -set'from the jar, and the closure will be seen to be free of contact with the jar at all places. Of course, after the sealing is efi'ected the spring clamp 16 is removed and is not needed to retain the closure on the jar.

naeaeee sharp edged sealing shoulder, of a jar cover comprising a top and an annular flange, the flange below the top having a curved portion that extends horizontally outward and thenclownwardlyv in a divergent form, the lower edge of the flange being bent first out- Wardly and then inwardly to form a channel, and a fiat ring gasket of substantially cylindrical form held at its lower edge in said channel and lying against the inner face of said horizontal, and vertical curved portion, and adapted for engagement with the top and side of the said sharp edged jar shoulder to thereby lock and seal the cover on the jar, whereby application of cover on the jar under strong pressure will compress the gasket between said shoulder and the said curved portion of the cover to a wedge shape diverging inwardly and downwardly from the edge of the shoulder, with the cover and gasket held entirely free of the jar wall at all other portions.

CHARLES HAMMER. 

